Cotton harvesters often have a header with a number of picking units coupled to a lift frame for harvesting cotton. Each picking unit includes at least one drum, and on some units there may be a front drum and a rear drum. In any event, on each drum there is a number of picker bars and on each picker bar there are a plurality of spindles. Each spindle can be tapered and have a barbed surface for removing the cotton from the cotton plant. Each row unit includes a doffer column having a plurality of doffers for removing picked cotton from the spindles. A doffer is a disc that may be coated in rubber or urethane and rotatably driven at a velocity much greater than that of the spindles. In a conventional cotton harvester row unit, the spindles move underneath the bottom face of the doffers so that the cotton is unwrapped and stripped from the spindles.
Conventional 4, 5, and 6 row cotton harvesters typically use a lift frame that raises and lowers the right and left sides individually. This allows 2 or 3 row units to go up and down together to follow contours in the field independent of the other side. Each side is cantilevered out from a center mounting point, requiring a significant lift structure to support the corresponding row units.
Conventional headers require substantial modification to be separated from the cotton harvester. Many cotton harvesters require individually removing each row unit by uncoupling several mechanical, hydraulic, water, and/or electrical connections per row unit. Accordingly, conventional cotton harvesters are designed to be transportable on public roads without requiring the removal of the header and row units. Consequently, the number of row units on a conventional cotton harvester is limited because of the difficulty in removing the header and transport width limitations.